Hi all,
On Thursday, July 24, 2003, at 04:25 PM, tmharding wrote:
<snip>
I have found through this error that not all service centres are
equal.
Winthrop have proven to me that slow and steady wins the race. They
will now keep my business and more importantly my referrals.
Interesting. Particularly in light of the other current thread
"applecentres in wa" on this mailing list. I make no bones about the
fact that I have regularly looked to this list as a guide to where in
Perth to take b0rked machines, buy hardware/software/peripherals, etc.
In doing so I understand that I am usually only getting one side of the
customer-retailer interaction. However, I am of the opinion that you
see enough reports in this mailing list to get a pretty good feel for
what you can expect from certain retailers/service centres in this
city. Granted the perception may still be inaccurate, but from a
personal perspective I will admit to having overlooked my nearest Apple
centre in favour of another due to better word of mouth reports posted
to this list. Perhaps more importantly, having found the service at
this distant store to be all that it was reported I have since made it
my first (and often only) port of call, and gladly spruke it's cause to
all Mac users I know. My point is, I wonder what percentage of WAMUG
subscribers are of the same philosophy? And if the percentage is high,
whether the word of mouth value of this list is fully appreciated by
the Apple retailers in this city? It just strikes me that in such a
small market, word of mouth must play a pretty big part in determining
where people are taking their business in Perth. Given the names I
often see reply to this list I suspect that at least some of the
retailers are cognizant of the feedback given here, in which case I
have often wished I had a dirty great "I subscribe to the WAMUG list"
sticker emblazoned across the machines I have had to put in for
service. :)
I want to point out that I am by no means advocating that this list
become a regular posting venue for consumer experience with Apple
retailers. Just that in cases where an initial problem posted to this
listed is eventually remedied by a visit to one of these stores that it
is particularly insightful when people include a BRIEF account of their
consumer experience along with the solution to their problem. I think
feedback of this sort can only serve to help both sides - better
service for the WAMUG customer and better patronage for the retailer.
Regards, Matt
------------------------------------
Matt Huitson
Dept of Psychology
University of Western Australia
Nedlands, WA 6009
Work: +61 89380 3639
Mobile: 0414 294 770
